Down Up Pick Strokes For Guitar
Source: Guitar Basics
Down Up Pick Strokes:
This is one of the very basics that will separate an OK guitarist from a good one. If you can get going on your down ups, you will be able to pick faster and outplay all of your guitarist buddies.
Just What Are Down Up Strokes?
It is just as the name sounds. Down strokes with the pick, followed by up strokes with the pick. Usually (not every time though) all whole, half and quarter notes are played with a down stroke of the pick. As soon as we introduce some sort of eighth, sixteenth or other combination of dotted eighth or dotted sixteenth note – we are into down up strokes of the pick.
Why Do It?
One word….Speed. Yep that is it, that’s all, just for speed. OK, it’s for smoothness too. Your playing will be much smoother by using down up strokes of the pick.
Just try to play all down strokes on an open string, one right after the other. You can go only just so fast and that’s it. Finished. No more speed. Besides that, it sound choppy.
Now put the pick into the hands of an experienced down up picker. They can go a LOT FASTER! Not twice, not four times, but many more times than that.
But, it does take practice, strength and control of the that pickin’ hand. And, I should say practice, practice, practice.
How to Do Down Up Strokes:
Start by playing the string with just the very tip of the pick – about 1/8″ to 1/4″ of it to play the down stroke. Hold your hand in place and immediately come back with an up stroke, with VERY LITTLE MOTION.
Keep these movements as small as you possibly can. Make it look like you are hardly moving you right hand at all.
If you look in the mirror and do your down ups and you can hardly see your hand move you are probably doing it right. Be sure you are holding the pick in your right hand correctly.
Review the article on How to Hold the Guitar Pick.
How Do You Read The Correct Down Ups in Music?
All the music that I will give you from this time forward will give the correct down up strokes for every note. This is just to force you to do it right.
The down strokes are indicated as an upside down “U”. Up strokes are indicated as a “V”. It’s that easy. Usually you will see a down stroke associated with a whole note, half note, quarter note, dotted half note or dotted quarter note – but not every time.
This rule will be broken. They are almost always used on a down beat or ON the beat of the music. That is every time you tap your foot you play a down stroke.
Up strokes are usually associated with eighth notes and faster notes. BUT if there are say, (4) eighth notes together, one right after the other, you would play the first and third ones with a down stroke and the second and fourth ones with an up stroke. Like this down, up, down, up -or- 1 & 2 &.
But don’t worry, I will mark all of them so you will not be confused. Soon you will learn just where to use them and you will not even give it a second thought. It will all come naturally. That is the beauty of practice. Like they say “Practice Makes Perfect”. It is true.
Tags: down up pick strokes, free guitar lessons, how to play guitar, Kids Guitar Lessons
